Left to Right: Jaipaul Sharma, Keith Scott, David Granger, Robert Corbin, Desmond Trotman and David Hinds at Wednesday's news conference.

Opposition Leader, David Granger- who is contesting the position of the leader of the Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR)- believes it is best if he holds the three portfolios.

Granger is coming up against former Finance Minister, Carl Greenidge at the July 27 to 29 biennial congress of the PNCR, the major partner in the main parliamentary opposition coalition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).

Addressing a news conference on Wednesday, Granger said he would be better able to carry out his political functions if he wears the caps of Opposition Leader, APNU Chairman and PNCR Leader.

“The role of the Peoples National Congress inside the Partnership for National Unity is an important one and I feel that the coordination of all three positions will advance the work of the partnership so I don’t see any conflict. I see that the three roles are complementary,” said Granger, a retired Brigadier of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).

Asked how he intended to balance the work-load and demands of APNU and PNCR, the Opposition Leader referred to the 10 shadow ministers including the 26 parliamentarians rather than a “show by myself”. He said he would benefit from advice and technical support as well as party institutions like the General Council, Central Executive and the Congress. “I do not have any fear that I would be able to fulfil those functions and I do not have any fear in the ability of my colleagues,” he added.

The one-year old APNU credits itself with the national budgetary cuts to several government entities in an effort to force the Donald Ramotar administration to get them to function effectively in the interest of all Guyanese. The coalition also claims success for wresting control of several key parliamentary committees from the government. Both of those have been challenged by government in the High Court.

The WPA hailed APNU as a major step towards racial and political unity but identified three priority areas in the coming months. They are deepening the democratization and strengthen the organs of the Partnership; spending  more time and energy in the ranks of the people where they live and work, listening to them and learning from them, and making a more deliberate and concerted effort to advance the agenda of a Government of National Unity, including putting Constitutional Reform at the center of that agenda.

Meanwhile, outgoing PNCR Leader Robert Corbin fended off suggestions that he was still trying to play an influential role in the 55-year old party by making himself available for membership of his party’s central executive while at the same time not be contesting the position of leader.

He declined to publicly say which of the two contestants he would be supporting for the post of leader, saying that was an internal party matter and to do so would be “irresponsible.”

“The roles of leader and member of the Central Executive are completely different and I did not want to convey the impression that I was abandoning my commitment to the Peoples National Congress Reform or to the struggle for the liberation of the struggling masses of this country,” said Corbin who would soon be honoured by the National Assembly as one of the longest serving parliamentarians. The governing Peoples Progressive Party Civic’s (PPPC) Reepu Daman Persaud would be similarly recognized.

Corbin said his departure from the post of leader did not mean that he did not have a “role to play in the struggle for change in Guyana or that would be a tragedy.”

He said he was “pressured” by several persons and party groups to stay on in party politics rather than “abandoning ship.”